The mum-of-two says homework can cause stress and anxiety
A mum who refuses to make her children do homework is calling for it to be abolished, urging kids to ignore compulsory tasks set by teachers. Abi Clarke, a mother of two and parenting coach, has labelled homework as “detrimental” to neurodivergent children and maintains that schools cannot force pupils to complete it.
The 34-year-old, who operates the parent mentoring service SparkGuideGrow and previously taught in a primary school, described homework as a “tick-box” exercise which even teachers dislike.
Abi, who suspects her eight-year-old daughter Emily may have dyslexia and ADHD, does not force her to undertake reading tasks assigned by teachers. Speaking from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Abi said: “She has flip flopped between really loving reading and finding it difficult. I’ve told the school I won’t force her to do it if it’s detrimental. If you’re forcing kids to do it at home when they’re tired and want to relax you’re just going to stop them developing a lifelong love of learning.”
While homework is not legally required in the UK, many schools assign tasks for children to complete outside of class. There are differing opinions among experts, with some suggesting homework aids learning while others argue it is ineffective.
Abi, who is also mum to two year old Harry, believes homework should be abolished. She stated: “I would love to see it abolished. Why are we giving children homework? I know loads of jobs will require people to work at home but when we’re trying to move towards a more mindful society, we need to say work is work and home is home.”
She continued: “I think that for those families that enjoy homework, it’s fine, but it does cause a lot of stress and anxiety especially for families with a neurodivergent condition. Most teachers actually hate doing it as well because it’s a tick-box exercise.”
Abi added: “Studies show that for those who are typically able, homework can give a five month improvement on academic ability. That doesn’t take into account high achievers or those who are not achieving at the typical standard. My opinion is that five months is not enough of a gain to offset what a child could achieve if they had a good family life.”
Abi explained that homework could trigger mental health difficulties in certain youngsters. She explained: “A lot of children with neurodivergence will see a rule as being really black and white. They think ‘right, I have to do this’ and they put it so much upon themselves but at home they need connection and regulation of their nervous system.”
She added: “Kids with neurodivergence will tell themselves that they are rubbish. There’s so much negative self talk. If there’s a blank rule for something, it’s almost an ableist rule. It can really have a bad effect on their mental health.”
Abi noted that families of primary school pupils were already entitled to allow their children to opt out of homework. She explained: “It’s not enforceable by law at all.”
However, she warned: “The trouble is that schools might start keeping kids in at break time or lunch time which is a big bug bear of mine. I’d encourage parents to ask for the policies and arm themselves with all the evidence. You should know that you are the advocate for your child.”
The mum continued: “Ask for the meetings and the paper trail for what’s going on, what the policy is and that the school’s actually following that. Try and gain that confidence, because a lot of parents are coming at this from a place of school trauma themselves. They think they can’t question a teacher, but they can.”
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